Author: Rene Del Castillo

After doing this pilot work, I have been able to recognize some unforeseen impacts that should have been considered more fully before implementing the plan. For example, in San Vicente, there are a number of stores and many of the other store owners would like to sell the solar codes to the community; however, since…

As previously mentioned in a blog post, I helped make the instruction manual for store owners that would be the points of sale for community members to buy the required codes. As we arrived to do the training, Justo was waiting patiently. We thought it was a good sign that his name was Just in…

During the PAYG (Pay as you go) pilot launch, we were staying close to one of the company’s offices in Coban, Guatemala. This city, apart from being one of the biggest cities in the country, has a deep sense of beliefs and spirituality. As you were walking on the street, you would see countless churches…

Part of my work has been being in the field and servicing the Pay-As-You-Go kits that are being used in the pilot. One of the lessons that I have learned is that it does not pay to cut corners with product testing as the pilot will become null if the product is not performing well.…

As I previously mentioned, Alex and I did a battery replacement in the community of Mano de Leon. The replacement was for our host-family’s system. While the replacement went very smoothly, we were very concerned that Fidelia would try and not pay the second half of the payment. She was constantly “joking” that there might…

Coming into this experience, I had a picture in my head of a typical rural community. While some of my thoughts were confirmed—subsistence farming, simple eating, mainly isolated living—many were not. I would like to use this blog post to reveal the lack of communication that I found most surprising in the three villages I…

Hey all, One of the biggest demands that I have seen out in the field is for solar energy systems that can power televisions. For someone like me that does not watch a lot of television and can see the negative effects that marketing can have on people– in terms of shaping their needs and…

As described in my past entries, I’m currently working on the launch of the Pay-as-you-go pilot. In a nutshell, people from communities will be able to purchase the use of the solar systems installed at their homes for a week, month, or day, (depending on their purchasing capabilities). A local store owner will act as…

Hey all– thanks for checking in and reading my updates on my work with Quetsol in Guatemala As the title suggests, I would like to illustrate one of the issues Quetsol is having right now as it switches its business model from pay-to-own, to pay-as-you-go and optimizes its kit with new technology. Old kit 1:…

Today, after a five hour car ride from Guatemala City, we just arrived to Coban, Guatemala. The reason we are here is to launch the new Pay as You Go model for the company. In this new Business model, instead of selling solar energy systems to the customers, Quetsol will install the systems in their…

Meet the Author

My name is Rene Del Castillo and I am an upcoming Senior and come form Cancun, Mexico. This summer I interned at Quetsol, a solar energy company that provides sustainable solutions at rural communities in Guatemala. My job as an Intern was to conduct a social impact study as well as well as launch the pilot of the PAYG business model.